President Higgins accuses Israel of leaking his letter to Iranian president

The Israeli Embassy has responded.

Speaking at the United Nations in New York, President Higgins said that he had written to Masoud Pezeshkian as a new head of state, stating that this is normal practice for a newly-elected leader.

He added: "My letter was standard, that I have written to many heads of state, and what I stressed in it was the importance of peace in the region and the importance as well as diplomacy returning in relation to the resolution of disputes and so forth."

The letter was subsequently published by The Jewish Chronicle last month.

The Israeli Embassy have since said that President Higgins' allegations that Israel leaked the letter were 'highly inflammatory and potentially slanderous and [that] the embassy rejects it completely."

The embassy also criticised President Higgins for writing the letter to Iran, citing their human rights record, and the 'threat' they pose.

They added: "It is the burden of the author to defend its content, which did not mention the threat Iran poses in the region, that it calls for Israel's destruction, that it arms and funds terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention the violations of human rights against its own citizens."

Preisdent Higgins told the Irish Independent and other journalists: "You should ask where the criticism came from, and how the letter was circulated, and by whom, and for what purpose."

He said that he believed the letter was shared to press by the Israeli Embassy.